27 September 1871: Grazia Deledda is born

Italian novelist and short-story writer Grazia Deledda was born in Nuoro, Sardinia, on 27 September 1871. She was the first Italian woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, and only the second woman in general after Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf received hers in 1909.

Deledda grew up in a middle-class family as the fourth of seven siblings, and her father worked the family’s land. Friends used to gather in the family’s kitchen and share their stories, which shy little Grazia absorbed. She attended school for just four years, which was considered sufficient for a girl, but also received private lessons in Italian. Her teacher encouraged her to submit her writing to a newspaper and, at age 13, her first story was published. A childhood shaped by old traditions with deep historical roots, and the unhappy fates of her family members imbued her with a strong belief in destiny. Themes like uncontrollable forces, moral dilemmas, passion, and human weakness recur in her stories.

Deledda was awarded the 1926 Nobel Prize in Literature “for her idealistically inspired writings which with plastic clarity picture the life on her native island and with depth and sympathy deal with human problems in general.” Deledda’s first novel was published in 1892.

Deledda married Palmiro Madesani in 1900 and the couple moved to Rome right after the publication of her work, The Old Man from the Mountain. Despite the birth of her two sons, Deledda managed to continue to write prolifically, publishing about a novel a year.

Deledda’s win contributed to the increase in popularity of her writing, and Benito Mussolini, who had just consolidated his grip on power, sent Deledda a signed portrait of himself with a dedication in which he expressed his “profound admiration.”

Deledda continued to write even as she grew older and more fragile, and she died in Rome at the age of 64 in 1936.